PGL: "All we want is a conversation"

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Andy Gardiner spoke to ESPN.com’s Bob Harig about the hopes and dreams of conversations with the PGA Tour. I’m not sure I see a place where the Premier Golf League and the PGA Tour co-exist, but Gardiner apparently does.

"All we want is a conversation,'' Gardiner said. "We've never been the enemy. But I can understand why we've been perceived as such. But we'd love to be friends. I've not had that opportunity so far. And I will be redoubling my efforts. We want to have a conversation in the best possible way to ensure they understand where we are coming from and why we are doing it and to ensure that nobody's feelings will be hard done.''

Gardiner also revealed the PGL’s effort at making “an approach in the last 24 hours setting out our thoughts in the best possible way.”

Presumably the letter was delivered by FedEx. If it came via DHL or UPS, I’m not sure the conversations will be cordial.

He is playing up a free market, choice approach and it would seem to be boxing the Tours into a corner given the whole “independent contractor” push last year when the PGL was a topic. Also, taking an open tone certainly makes tough replies from the PGA Tour, while justified given what is an obvious business threat, could reflect poorly in some sectors.

"I do know the existing PGA Tour rules. The players will ultimately decide where they are going to play. There have been rumors of bans and not getting ranking points, but all individuals should have the right to choose how and when and where they work. These guys are professionals. If the PGA Tour changes its rules that allows them to remain members ... we hope that would be feasible.''

Quadrilateral: U.S. Open News And Notes, June 10, 2021

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Random is the theme here from thoughts on the momentum going into this U.S. Open, to Golf’s Longest Day coverage, to the 2008 U.S. Open rebroadcast and Mike Whan’s possibly controversial take on rangefinders.*

Check it all out here and this weekly edition is a reminder as to why you should up for free.

*Sorry free subscribers, I screwed up and clicked the wrong button. You should not be able to read it via the link.

USGA Names Green Section Research Program For Mike Davis

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It’s not often a CEO allows something to be named after his ownself while still on the job.

I’m open to other examples. The Lepetomane Thruway came to mind, but that was just a ruse and not a creation of the Governor or his team.

Either way, before Mike Davis leaves the USGA as CEO, the Executive Committee has named their “Golf Course Sustainability Research Program” in his honor and it’s a little bizarre he said, sure why not?

For Immediate Release from the USGA:

USGA’s $45M GOLF COURSE SUSTAINABILITY RESEARCH PROGRAM RENAMED TO HONOR OUTGOING CEO MIKE DAVIS

Turfgrass and Environmental Research Program will become the  
Mike Davis Program for Advancing Golf Course Management 

LIBERTY CORNER, N.J. (June 9, 2021) – To celebrate the legacy of its outgoing CEO, the USGA has renamed its most impactful sustainability initiative as the Mike Davis Program for Advancing Golf Course Management. 

Thta’s MDPAGCM for those wanting to know the much handier internal name.

Formerly the Turfgrass and Environmental Research Program (TERP), the longstanding initiative represents the single largest private grant program in golf dedicated to advancing innovation in sustainability and improving the on-course experience. The USGA annually invests nearly $2 million in the program ($45 million to date), which has resulted in better playing conditions, dramatic cost savings and a more environmentally friendly game.

The new title will honor Davis, who joined the USGA in 1990 and has made a consistent, positive impact on the game in his 31 years of service while positioning it for long-term success.

Consistent and positive. Interesting choices.

“Throughout his time at the USGA, Mike Davis’ vision to lead the game forward through golf course sustainability has propelled the success of this program, ensuring that every golfer has a great playing experience and every owner has access to the latest innovations to manage their course,” said Stu Francis, USGA president. “With his passion for golf courses and data-driven decision-making, we could not find a better program to share his name and inspire a sustainable future for golf.”

Founded in 1920, the USGA Green Section has initiated and fostered sustainable practices that have benefited the entire game. Through it, the USGA has dedicated golf’s largest investment toward research focusing on science-based management practices, turfgrass innovation and environmental stewardship. Land-grant universities and researchers from California to New Jersey, and from New Zealand to the United Kingdom are among the primary recipients of the 50-70 Davis Grants dispersed annually. 

The research program has significantly contributed to the development of sustainable golf maintenance practices that have driven a 20+-percent decrease in water usage and a nearly 40-percent decrease in nutrient usage in the last decade. They have also led to an estimated $1.86 billion in savings each year by incorporating more natural areas on golf courses, effectively managing water, developing best practices that reduce pesticide use, and standardizing putting green construction, among others.

Widely used golf turfgrasses such as bentgrass and bermudagrass were first selected and improved through the USGA program, in an effort to improve drought resistance, promote recycled water and smart irrigation use and improve playing conditions on golf courses and playing fields worldwide. 

The published research is directly shared through the free USGA Green Section Record, as well as through Course Consulting Service visits by USGA agronomists and at regional and national industry conferences. 

Mike Davis joined the USGA as the assistant manager of championship relations in 1990, and he assumed the role of senior director of USGA Rules and Competitions in 2005. He became the USGA’s seventh executive director in 2011 and was named CEO of the association in 2016. 

A native of Chambersburg, Pa., Davis was the 1982 Pennsylvania State Junior golf champion and played NCAA Division I golf at Georgia Southern University. In September 2020, he announced his intent to leave the organization’s top post to pursue a personal career goal in golf architecture and design, with plans to depart the organization at the end of June 2021.

PGL Co-Founder On Just Wanting a Fair Chance To Compete For Players

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Phil Casey talks to Premier Golf League co-founder Andy Gardiner about the hopes of starting in January 2023 with players who would still like to earn world ranking points and possibly defect without repercussions.

Choice and other offshoots of that theme play a big part in the PGL approach this time with obvious restraint of trade issues in mind. Gardiner says:

"We went through establishing what the law says and how it applies to the players, we now know the position and that's why we are reaching out to the community to say 'There's a nice way of doing this, a great way of doing it, which is to make sure everybody gets a fair share'.

"All we've ever wanted is the ability to compete for the services of these guys in a fair and effective manner.

"I think we will be able to provide the players with the peace of mind they require, hopefully in the next couple of months, with a deal which says 'rght guys, you've now got the freedom to choose'.

"And you can choose another Tour that pays more, because that's just the case, and you can also choose it on the basis that's it in the best interests of the game long term and other parts of the game are involved in this.

"In other words there is no controversy, it's not as difficult a decision as the guys back in '68 had to make."

1968 being the year Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer, among others, led players away from the PGA of America to form the PGA Tour.

The recent Saudi-led offshoot of the Premier Golf League concept prompted an unusual outpouring of PGA Tour and European Tour support from the other Five Families. It will be interesting to see if the PGL’s latest iteration prompts similar statements from Augusta National, the PGA of America, USGA and R&A.

Phil Makes A Pitch For Rickie Fowler To Get His U.S. Open Special Exemption

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In stark contrast to Brooks and Bryson, we have Phil Mickelson replying to a follower that he’d like to see Rickie Fowler get the special invitation no longer needed after winning the PGA Championship.

Fowler has two top-5s in the U.S. Open, including a second place in 2014, though based on past special invites, he seems unlikely to get one. Fowler failed to make it through the Columbus qualifying by just a shot after Tuesday morning’s rain-delayed finish. Fowler has not missed a U.S. Open since 2010.

The LPGA Tour Has Not Had A COVID-19 Case Since Early March

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The Jon Rahm situation Saturday offered a stark reminder that COVID-19 can still happen and how golfers traveling the country face an increased risk of exposure.

The LPGA Tour has been traveling the globe with most of its players flying commercially. But the Tour also instituted a strict no-public dining policy through the the Asian events, a policy that was part of original PGA Tour “Return to Golf” protocols last year.

Upon my request, the LPGA Tour provided this update through last week’s U.S. Women’s Open conducted by the USGA. The numbers are impressive.

  • The tour has had four confirmed COVID-19 positives through LPGA Tour testing since the start of the 2021 season.

  • Just one confirmed positive since early March.

  • As of the return from Asia, they have re-opened to outdoor dining at all establishments, with groups limited to four.

  • More than 60% of players/caddies/staff are fully vaccinated, “with many more at various steps in the vaccination process.”

For context, the PGA Tour program and protocols have been widely viewed as a success. Yet they’ve still announced ten players as testing positive since early March. And for 2021, a total of sixteen were detected by the Tour testing system. Last Sunday, the PGA Tour’s Andy Levinson characterized the player vaccination rate as “north of 50%”.

The European Tour’s testing program has registered six positive cases in 2021, all since early March.

Premier Golf League Tweaks A Few Details, Answers Questions

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The Premier Golf League has returned to the disruptor discussion carrying essentially the same proposal as before, with three noticeable and significant changes.

Whether those tweaks to the plan—now six years in the making—change perceptions, we’ll see. Given how players could not rule out the Golf Saudi rip-off of the PGL’s concept, there is a perception that minds have been opened to a PGA Tour/European Tour alternative.

In this case, the money is no longer from the Kingdom and the schedule involves far less of a Middle East-focus. That would seemingly sway a few fence-sitters.

Here is the FAQ page of their website updated today.

From what I’m reading, the format remains essentially the same: 18 weeks, 12 targeted for the United States, built around majors and Ryder Cup, 54-hole stroke play with the shotgun start and five hour window (that’s a nice way of letting people know they want to tighten the days for everyone). Each week four players from each franchise play with a captain designating two who will count toward a season long race.

The first big format change: a 13th team owned by the league with players voted on by fans. This introduces a way to work in a budding young player or local legend or any number of possibilities. I’m not sure it’s enough to answer the question of how this league develops and welcomes new talent, but it’s a fascinating twist.

It’s about truly engaging the fans and getting them involved. Three wild cards picked by fans each week. Legends, rising stars, local favourites, men and women. That’s up to 51 additional players with a chance to win each season. The 13th team will be owned by our foundation and add an extra dimension to the League. We can’t wait to see who the fans will select?

The other huge change: team owners now will not be relegated to players at the outset. From the FAQ:

We’ll be announcing our team owners soon. Team golf is nothing new, but this extraordinary opportunity is. Think about the unrivalled access, unparalleled experiences, unimaginable fun, at 18 unforgettable events every year. The opportunity to help change the game for the better, just as the greats did 50 years ago. A chance to make history, as well as a great return on investment.

You can expect to see a heady mix of global stars (not just golfers) and high-profile globally representative individuals from the world of business.

Finally, their statement on backers:

We have an incredible shareholder base that loves golf and is providing the required backing. But it’s not just about the money. You could have all the money in the world and still not get this right. It’s about being fair, inclusive and rewarding. It’s also about creating the right ownership structure and sharing with those who make up golf’s community.

Q&A With Author Peter May And U.S. Open Final Qualifying Roundup

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A smart new book just in time for Father’s Day and the U.S. Open has arrived and I you enjoy this chat with Peter May in The Quadrilateral.

This one is open to all so check it and if you enjoy, buy the book and subscribe to The Quad free or because you want to read yesterday’s U.S. Women’s Open roundup and other past subscriber-only posts.

Also, today’s edition features a quick roundup of the almost-concluded U.S. Open Final Qualifyings.

Premier Golf League Jumps Back In At An Inconvenient Time For PGA Tour

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News of the Premier Golf League’s non-Saudi backed plan getting a refreshed non-Raine Group rollout seems to be designed to generate discussion at next week’s U.S. Open inside the bubble.

But the news landing this week highlights just how embarrassing the PGA Tour’s “product” can be in weeks when a 156-player field is rolled out despite no demands to see that many players for another stroke play event.

The PGA Tour incentivizes executives to create playing opportunities and purse growth, no matter how much if dilutes the product. Not many businesses I can think of would succeed that way.

Therefore this week’s Canadian Open replacement event turns up at a remote club in South Carolina featuring 156 players. Many had to be awakened from their backyard hammock to get down to South Carolina in time.

Or worse, in Tommy Gainey’s case, they passed to play the Korn Ferry event instead.

Hey congrats you’ve been called up to the Show! Wait, what? You want to stay in the minors?

What perfect timing for the Premier Golf League to highlight how the PGA Tour product can be so unnecessarily warped, bloated and unnecessarily weak. Imagne playing events where the priority is on providing work for golfers and executives instead of something a tad more aspirational for the people who pay the bills?

And they wonder why there are competing ideas to blow up the current model.

Look at the WD’s this week and the replacements. As Brendan Porath noted in the Tweet embedded above, what a contrast to Golf’s Longest Day where the lowest scores go to the U.S. Open. Granted, the various disruptor leagues are anything but democratic. Seems like something in between would be ideal for fans and the world’s best. And nothing against Omar Uresti, but no one is paying to watch him play on the PGA Tour…

"Jon Rahm made a bad business decision."

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Holy cow have I heard some ridiculous whining about Jon Rahm’s forced WD from the Memorial after testing positive for COVID-19. I realize that people think they will curry favor with players by telling them what they want to hear, but that may also be at the core of Rahm’s decision not to get vaccinated to protect his family and career.

Thankfully, Rob Oller did a nice job summing it all up with Jack Nicklaus’s assessments to support his case.

In a nutshell, Rahm assessed a risk/reward situation. He went for the green in two—passing on vaccination until last week—and drop-kicked it into the water. Maybe he was unlucky. Who knows. The virus is cruel that way. As a multi-million dollar business operation with a new family and having lost family members during the pandemic, he had plenty of reasons to lay-up, take the vax route and likely remain upright with just a small microchip whispering AOC’s deepest thoughts in his ear. Oh well.

Oller writes:

So let’s speak the language of corporate attorneys and CEO consultants: Jon Rahm made a bad business decision.

If Rahm had been vaccinated ASAP after his home state of Arizona opened eligibility to all adults on March 24, the 26-year-old Spaniard almost certainly would have avoided testing positive for COVID-19 Saturday at the Memorial Tournament.

And had he not tested positive, he would not have withdrawn from the Memorial, which he led by six shots with 18 left to play.

Nicklaus the tournament host did not sound particularly torn:

“Jon is a big boy and understands we have rules, and unfortunately rules are something you may not like but they are the rules we have right now and you have to abide by them,” Nicklaus said, adding that tour commissioner Jay Monahan feels the same way. “Whether he would have shot 64 (Saturday) or 74, the same result would have come out for him.”

BBC: The Premier Golf League Is Back And Shooting For 2023 Start

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BBC’s Iain Carter has the scoop: the World Golf Group’s Premier Golf League is back. While bruised from a failed merger attempt with the European Tour and Golf Saudi’s “Super Golf League” theft of the original concept once partly funded by the Public Investment Fund, they are set to announce later this week goals for a 2023 start and $20 million weekly purses.

The Formula 1 style concept remains in place with 18 tournaments featuring the top 48 male players in the world, with what sounds like a harder push to start a women’s version sooner than later. The team concept remains a centerpiece with four-player squads facing off in a season-ending event.

Carter writes of the funding:

Those backing the project, run by the British-based World Golf Group, are worth in excess of $20bn according to boss Andy Gardiner.

It is believed this iteration of the PGL involves no ties to Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment fund or the Crown Prince, greatly increasing the potential appeal for some players.

Speaking exclusively to BBC Sport, Gardiner said: "The team is ready to go.

"We've used the last eight months to bring in externals to check through every single piece of the model to make sure the events of the last 12 months with Covid haven't changed our thinking.

"The January 2023 date right now is entirely feasible. We will see how the conversations go with the community that we want to embrace."

Already addressed by Gardiner: the threats of expulsion from Tours for signing up.

"Different bodies create their own sets of rules to protect what they have and then it's a question of whether the rules that they have in place are fair and that's when you look at the relevant law.

"Imagine the reaction of the sponsors and the broadcasters if the world's best players were all of a sudden banned. Common law in the US says that is a punishment, that's not a protection.

"You've got to allow people to live their own lives. That's why I'm confident."

More details to come!

In the meantime for those interested, here is my coverage of the PGL when it last surfaced over a year ago.

Golf's Longest Day Is Here, A Quick Guide

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In the old days of this blog I used to do some heavy Golf’s Longest Day lifting when the USGA did not. (I’ll still will never forget seeing 500,000 page views in one day all because golf sites didn’t care). Mercifully the ultimate display of democratic golf offering to fill out next week’s U.S. Open field will be covered in a few places sites.

For a while the USGA sent writers and photographers to venues, we’ll see if that happens this year at their dedicated page currently featuring just scoring links.

Golfweek has this dedicated page with preview of each site and promises of reports from writers as the day goes.

And as detailed in last week’s Quadrilateral, Golf Channel is back with all day coverage until midnight ET.

The final qualifying storylines, as compiled by the USGA.

Early on it seems cicadas are an issue at the Woodmont qualifier:

Olympic Club And Rouillard: In Praise Of A Course Setup Audible

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We’ve been through a lot of course setup mistakes over the years and while some were repairable, others could not be adjusted last minute without heavy watering or finger-pointing.

So it’s worth highlighting Kent Paisley’s GolfDigest.com story on Shannon Rouillard’s last minute decision to tweak some mowing heights, intermediate cuts and approach to Olympic Club following the practice rounds. I’ve seen enough of these events to know this is not easy for a setup team to do, especially since Rouillard has an extra-special tie to the venue. But she was also working with an adaptable grounds team and superintendent in Troy Flanagan at Olympic Club, which helps. And as we saw from the outcome, got it right.

Yes, the course went from being the hardest thing in the history of golf—a familiar early week major refrain—to surprisingly scoreable for players on their game. However the score dispersion suggests it was still very brutal for most. Those last minute tweaks meant admitting error or at least, miscalculation.

Anyway, check out Paisley’s piece on the “late tweaks” here. And one key graph from the story after explaining the decision to lower the rough height, no small task:

Additionally, after saying as late as Wednesday morning that she would not have an intermediate cut on the course, Rouillard added one before play began on the par-5 first and par-5 16th holes.

On the remaining holes, however, Rouillard stuck to the decision not to include an intermediate cut, instead leaving fairways in place that were 10-15 percent wider—and even 20 percent on the fourth hole—than when men’s U.S. Open was played here in 2012

“I understand why it got a lot of chatter because we typically have an intermediate pass at this championship,” Rouillard said.

Given the sidehill nature of the course it was the right call. For a nice change of pace, an Olympic Club major ended up focused on players instead of questions about the setup.

Women Almost Worth Watching: Not Heidi Bad, But Still Not Great

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When NBC sent the U.S. Women’s Open playoff to Golf Channel without warning and viewers went wild (as AA’s Jay Rigdon documents here), we were reminded of a few things:

  • NBC took back the USGA package from Fox and already had plenty on its plate (Belmont Stakes, French Open, Olympic trials, etc.).

  • It’s an Olympic year and NBC has far more invested in the Games build-up than in golf, so prime time gymnastics will always get the call. Fine, it’s a big business, it wasn’t supposed to be this year and we get the headaches involved in all of this except…

  • Women Worth Watching was pushed by the USGA and NBC. If you were on Twitter at all you’d know how relentless the staged messaging was. That should not have been pushed in an Olympic year when the network priorities lie elsewhere. (Perhaps incoming CEO Mike Whan can get that fixed down the road or revisit the U.S. Women’s Open date if it will continuously get squeezed on the schedule.)

  • The final round was already compromised when threesomes were sent off both tees much earlier than on Saturday. Players were asked to make a quick turnaround. All for television in the most important championship in the women’s game. Turns out, the Saturday schedule of some early NBC action followed by the evening conclusion on Golf Channel in ET prime time would have been better for the U.S. Women’s Open than what transpired Sunday.

  • Peacock was developed with a streaming future in mind and made part of the renegotiated Fox contract, so why not stream all of it there all the time so you can point to the app and say, “we are giving it all to you in once place while juggling an obviously busy sports schedule, we hope you understand.”

I wrote all of this in the Quadrilateral today, but I left out one other component of the bungled handoff which, let’s face, would have also been blasted if it were Fox or CBS doing the same thing.

After the two-hole aggregate playoff was tied, NBC went to its gymnastics coverage and sent the sudden death portion to Golf Channel as the players were teeing off. The network coverage did not have to sign off on the west coast. Gynmastics would be shown later on tape delay for the Pacific Time Zone.

In the past when CBS has sent delayed PGA Tour coverage to Golf Channel, they often stay live in the PT zone. So what happened on the western NBC stations showing the U.S. Women’s Open?

They went to infomercials in L.A.

And in San Francisco where the event was played?

Something called One Team: The Power of Sports. A show geared toward children. Thanks to readers M and K for sending the heads up.

Again, if the parties involved are sincere about “growing” the women’s game—ratings—and raising the profile of players, they have to back it up with decisions which make the viewing experience more sensible and respectful of the competition. Anything else means it’s just another synthetic messaging campaign.

**Golfweek’s Beth Ann Nichols wrote this about the scheduling, timing and NBC handling:

Moving away from a tournament like the Memorial is another important piece of the puzzle. There should be a significant push within the industry (that includes the PGA Tour) to align schedules to give the biggest women’s events the best possible chance at success.

That goes for TV too. There were great strides made this week at the Women’s Open with the addition of feature groups and the return of Golf Channel’s Live From. But the fact that the network TV window came and went on Saturday without showing a single shot from the leaders (it switched to Golf Channel), combined with Sunday’s final round missing primetime and forcing Sunday threesomes, is a giant weekend whiff.

Quadrilateral: 2021 U.S. Women's Open Champions, Cutmakers and (Point) Missers

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I’m light on blog posts tonight because it’s a long newsletter on the rapid decline of NBC Sports, as evidenced by Sunday’s blah telecast and epic show that women are (sort of) worth watching.

But there are also plenty of winners and losers from a grand U.S. Women’s Open at Olympic. Here’s the post for paid subscribers.